Method of manufacturing a protective glove

ABSTRACT

A method of fabricating a temperature resistant and fluid impermeable protective glove having front and back panels joined by at least one seam. During manufacture, the glove is dipped into a first thin liquid to coat the exterior surface of the glove. The first liquid penetrates through gaps in the seam and seals those gaps as it solidifies. The first liquid coated glove is then dipped into a second thicker liquid to coat the entire exterior surface including the sealed seam. A third coating may be applied to the interior surface of the glove prior to joining the front and back panels together. The glove may also include an interior liner and an exterior protective member for added comfort and protection.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/974,795 filed Dec. 21, 2010, which application claims priority fromU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/289,246, filed Dec. 22, 2009, theentire specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention generally relates to gloves. More particularly, theinvention relates to protective gloves used in industries where workersencounter extremely high or extremely low temperature substances orpotentially come into contact with any number of a variety of causticsubstances. Specifically, the invention relates to a glove having afirst coating on its exterior surface that penetrates and seals theseams and a second coating that overlays the first coating, and to amethod of manufacturing gloves incorporating these elements.

2. Background Information

In many industries, workers may have to handle articles that potentiallycan injure them. In the food services industry, for example, workers arefrequently exposed to heated surfaces and hot liquids and gases that maycause severe burns. It has therefore become commonplace for workers insuch environments to wear protective clothing, including temperature andfluid resistant gloves. The gloves in question need to prevent radiantheat from reaching the skin and they need to be fluid impermeable toprevent liquids and gases from penetrating into the interior of theglove, causing a contact-type injury. Similar requirements are necessaryin industries where the workers are exposed to extremely coldsubstances, such as liquid nitrogen, or to caustic substances such asacids and bases that can severely damage flesh if they come into contactwith the skin.

While gloves currently known in these industries function quite well,one of the problem areas that persists is the tendency for liquids andgases to be able to penetrate the seams of the gloves. Since most glovesare stitched together, the fabric at the seams is effectively securedtogether only by small lengths of thread that are separated from eachother by small gaps. Liquids and gases tend to penetrate into theinterior of the glove through these small gaps and thereby cause injuryto the wearer.

There is therefore a need in the art for an improved protective glovethat is temperature resistant and/or fluid impermeable, especially inthe region of the seams, and to an improved method of manufacturing thistype of glove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device of the present invention comprises a temperature resistantand fluid impermeable protective glove having front and back panelsjoined together by at least one seam. During manufacture, the glove isdipped into a first thin liquid to coat the exterior surface of theglove. The first liquid penetrates through gaps in the seam and sealsthose gaps as it solidifies. The first liquid coated glove is thendipped into a second thicker liquid to coat the entire exterior surfaceincluding the sealed seam. A third coating may be applied to theinterior surface of the glove prior to joining the front and back panelstogether. Preferably, the third coating is a blade-coating that improvesthe gloves cut and penetration strength. The glove may also include aninterior liner and an exterior protective member for added comfort andprotection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrative of the best modein which applicant has contemplated applying the principles, is setforth in the following description and is shown in the drawings and isparticularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appendedclaims.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a glove in accordance with thepresent invention being used to protect a worker's hand from a hot orcaustic liquid;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the glove of the present inventionshowing the exterior surface thereof;

FIG. 3 is an exploded side elevational view of the glove of FIG. 2 beinglowered over an expandable glove former;

FIG. 3 a is an exploded front elevational view of the glove of FIG. 2being lowered over the expandable former;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the glove on the glove former, illustrating theformer being expanded to open up the glove's seams to obtain access tothe gaps between the threads of the stitching;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the glove and former beingdipped into a tank of a first liquid to coat the exterior of the gloveand showing some of that first liquid flowing into the expanded seam;

FIG. 6 is a top cross-sectional view of the glove through line 6-6 ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the highlighted region of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the highlighted region of FIG. 6 shownwith the former returned to its non-expanded condition and illustratinghow the first fluid has sealed the seam in the glove by filling the gapsbetween the threads;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the glove on the former when in anon-expanded state, with the glove being dipped a second time to apply acoat of a second liquid over the solidified first layer of the firstliquid;

FIG. 10 is a top cross-sectional view of the glove of FIG. 9 removedfrom the former and showing the solidified first and second layers;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged top view of the highlighted region of FIG. 10;showing the second layer of the second liquid coated over the solidifiedfirst layer and forming the exterior surface of the glove;

FIG. 11 a is an enlarged top view of the highlighted region of FIG. 10showing an alternative embodiment of the invention in which ablade-coating is additionally applied to the interior surface of anouter shell of the glove; and

FIG. 12 is an exploded front view of the glove of the present inventionalong with a cotton liner that is received in the interior of the gloveand which directly contacts the worker's hand, together with a Kevlarmitt that is slipped over the exterior surface of the top portion of theglove of the present invention to give added temporary protection to aworkman's hand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-12, there is shown a protective glove in accordancewith the present invention and generally indicated at 10. FIGS. 1, 2 and12 show various details of the structure of glove 10. FIGS. 3-11 aillustrate how glove 10 is manufactured and how the process constructsthe structure of glove 10. FIG. 11 a illustrates an alternativestructure for the glove in accordance with the present invention.

Glove 10 as illustrated herein is of a mitt style and includes a thumbregion 14 and a single finger region 16 that would cover and protect allfour of the wearer's fingers together. It will be understood that if itis desirable to protect the wearer's fingers in a different manner, thatglove could alternatively include a thumb region and two, three or fourfinger regions. These alternative versions of the glove are notillustrated herein but are considered to fall within the spirit andscope of the present invention.

As indicated previously, glove 10 is designed for applications whereprotection is needed from one or more of hot, cold or caustic substancesthat are able to penetrate into the interior of the glove through theseams. It should be understood that the term “temperature resistant”used herein means resistance to both heat and cold, and the term “fluidimpermeable” means impermeability or resistance to both liquids andgases. It will further be understood that glove 10 will also protect thewearer's hand from exposure to hot, cold and caustic solid materials butsolid materials are less likely to be of such a nature that they areable to penetrate into the interior cavity of the glove through theseams. However, the glove of the present invention will alsosubstantially prevent particulate-type solid materials that areextremely hot, extremely cold or extremely caustic from penetrating intothe interior cavity through the glove's seams. Consequently, the term“fluid” should also be considered, for the purposes of this description,to refer to particulate-type solid materials and “fluid impermeability”to refer to impermeability of the seams with reference toparticulate-type solid materials.

FIG. 1 shows glove 10 in use protecting a person's hand against injuryduring exposure to a hot liquid 12. Glove 10 is designed to extend for adistance beyond the wrist of the wearer and to terminate approximatelymidway between the wrist and elbow. Alternately, the glove may extendentirely up the length of the user's arm.

Glove 10 is manufactured by cutting two substantially identical piecesof fabric and then stitching those pieces together to form an outershell 18. Outer shell 18 has a front 20 and a back 22 that are joinedtogether by sewing along a seam 24 to form a plurality of stitches thathold the two pieces of fabric together. Front 20 is designed to abut thepalm of the wearer and back 22 is designed to abut the back of thewearer's hand. Front 20 and back 22 bound an interior cavity 26 (FIG.6), configured to receive the hand and a portion of the wearer's wristand arm therein. Cavity 26 is accessed through an opening (not shown) ata lowermost end 20 a, 22 a (FIG. 3) of front 20 and back 22.

In accordance with the present invention, the base fabric used tomanufacture outer shell 18 preferably is a poly/cotton, a cotton jerseyor a cotton interlock fabric that is not blade-coated. Blade-coating isaccomplished by applying a silicon or nitrile coating onto one face offront 20 and back 22 either before or after cutting them out and priorto sewing. Alternatively, the fabric used for front 20 and back 22 isone of a poly/cotton, a meta-aramid and a poly-aramid fabric that isblade-coated. When front 20 and back 22 are cut out and sewn together,the blade-coated face of the two pieces of fabric is disposed on theinterior of the glove and therefore bounds cavity 26.

In accordance with methodology of the present invention, once front 20and back 22 of outer shell 18 have been sewn together, outer shell 10 isslipped over an expandable former 28 (FIGS. 3 and 3 a). Former 28comprises a first member 28 a and a second member 28 b that are movablehorizontally toward and away from each other. Former 28 is thereforeable to be moved between a non-expanded condition (FIG. 3) and anexpanded condition (FIG. 4). When in the non-expanded condition, firstand second members 28 a, 28 b abut each other along a midline 29. Whenin the expanded condition, first and second members 28 a, 28 b areseparated from each other by a small vertical space 31. The formerillustrated in FIGS. 3-4 is a former for a mitt and therefore includes athumb region 33 and a single finger region 35. It will be understood,however, that if the glove to be manufactured is to have a thumb regionand four finger regions, that the former used in that instance wouldlikewise include a thumb region and four finger regions.

When outer shell 18 is properly positioned on former 28, the former 28is moved from its non-expanded condition (FIG. 3) to its expandedcondition (FIG. 4). This movement causes front 20 of glove 10 to moveslightly away from back 22 of glove 10 thereby causing seam 24 toslightly open up along substantially the entire length thereof. Seam 24is expanded to a degree sufficient to make the individual strands 30 ofthe thread used to sew front 20 and back 22 together more evident (FIGS.4 & 6). The strands 30 of thread extend between front 20 and back 22 andretain the two together. Seam 24 also includes a plurality of gaps 32,where each gap 32 is disposed between two adjacent strands 30. Gaps 32permit fluid communication through seam 24 between interior cavity 26and the air surrounding the exterior surface 18 a of outer shell 18. Inother words, gaps 32 permit some flow of liquids and gases through theseam 24 between interior cavity 26 and the air surrounding exteriorsurface 18 a of outer shell 18. When former 28 is expanded, strands 30become more visible and the gaps 32 are widened to a greater degree thanwhen outer shell 18 was in the non-expanded condition.

In accordance with yet another feature of the present invention, onceseam 24 is expanded (FIG. 6), a first coating 34 of a suitable liquid isapplied to the exterior surface 18 a of outer shell 18. This step mayrequire moving former 28 from a first location to a second location insome manner. Thus, in a first instance shown in FIG. 5, former 28 withthe expanded outer shell 18 disposed thereon is dipped into a vat 36holding a quantity of a first liquid 38. This dipping procedure is thepreferred manner of applying first liquid 38. First liquid 38 preferablywill make outer shell 18 one or both of temperature resistant and fluidimpermeable. A suitable first liquid 38 for this purpose would benitrile or neoprene. First liquid 38 preferably is in the form of a lowviscosity fluid, meaning that it is more thin and runny and less sticky.In order to attain the correct viscosity for the first liquid 38, theliquid may need to be heated.

When outer shell 18 is dipped into first liquid 38, the liquid 38 coversexterior surface 18 a and effective obstructs gaps 32 thereby cuttingoff fluid communication between interior cavity 26 and the airsurrounding exterior surface 18 a of outer shell 18. More particularly,first liquid 38 penetrates into seam 24, flowing into and through gaps32 between adjacent strands 30 of threads. First liquid 38 also flowsaround and coats strands 30 and may penetrate slightly into the same.First liquid 38 preferably also flows through seam 24 and flows for ashort distance along the interior surfaces of front 20 and back 22 (FIG.7) that define and bound cavity 26. After being immersed for a length oftime sufficient to allow first fluid 38 to flow into and through gaps32, outer shell is removed from being further exposed to first liquid38. The length of time involved will vary with the viscosity of firstfluid 38 from just a few seconds to several minutes. While outer shell18 is being removed from first liquid 38, former 28 is moved from itsexpanded condition back to its non-expanded condition. At the same time,the previously heated first liquid 38 begins to cool and solidify andseam 24 begins to close back to its original non-expanded condition.Thus, strands 30 move closer together and gaps 32 close but, as thisoccurs, a quantity of the cooling first liquid 38 becomes entrapped inthe gaps 32 between adjacent strands 30 (FIG. 8) and thereby fills andseals the same. Thus, fluid communication through the seam 24 betweeninterior cavity 26 and the air surrounding the exterior of outer shell18 is effectively cut off. Sufficient time is allowed to pass afterremoving outer shell 18 from first liquid 38 to permit the quantity offirst liquid 38 on exterior surface 18 a to cool and solidify to form afirst coating 34. Since the entire outer shell 18 preferably is dippedinto first liquid, first coating 34 covers the entire exterior surface18 a. It will be understood, however, that if only a portion of outershell 18 was dipped into first liquid 38, then first coating 34 willonly form on the area of outer shell 18 that was dipped. First coating34 effectively seals off both the interior and exterior regions of seam24 because both of the interior and exterior regions thereof have had aquantity of first liquid 38 applied thereto. This sealing of seam 24ensures that liquids cannot flow through gaps 30 in seam 24 and intointerior cavity 26 of glove 10. Substantially the entire length of seam24 is sealed by first coating 34, thus rendering outer shell 18 liquidimpermeable. This first coating 34 therefore substantially preventsliquid from being able to penetrate into the interior cavity 26 of glove10 by way of entering through seam 24 and thereby substantially reducesthe likelihood of the worker being burned or injured by hot, cold orcaustic substances.

It will be understood that instead of dipping outer shell 18,alternatively, former 28 with the expanded outer shell thereon, may bemoved through a zone in a piece of equipment (not shown) where aquantity of first liquid 38 is sprayed over exterior surface 18 a ofouter shell 18. Any other procedures for applying a quantity of thefirst liquid to the exterior surface 18 a of outer shell 18 are alsoconsidered to fall within the spirit and scope of this invention.Dipping is, however, preferred as it ensures that substantially theentire seam 24 will be exposed to first liquid 38.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, and in accordance with yet another feature ofthe present invention, once seam 24 is sealed with first liquid 38, asecond coating 40 is applied to the exterior surface 34 a of the firstcoating 34 on outer shell. A suitable substance for use as secondcoating 40 is nitrile, neoprene or any other substance that improves thetemperature resistance and/or liquid impermeability qualities of theglove. A second coating 40 may also be provided to give the glove betterabrasion and/or gripping qualities and materials that provide thesefeatures can be used to form second coating 40.

At this point, the first-liquid coated outer shell 18 is still engagedon former 28 and the former is in the non-expanded condition. Keepingformer 28 in this non-expanded condition, the former is moved to permita second coating 40 to be applied to the first-liquid coated outer shell18. Preferably, second coating 40 is applied by dipping thefirst-liquid-coated outer shell 18 and former 28 into a vat 42 of asuitable second liquid 44. Any other suitable method of applying thesecond coating, such as spraying, may be employed without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention. Preferably, second liquid44 is of a higher viscosity than is first liquid 38, meaning that secondliquid 44 preferably is more tacky and thicker than first liquid 38. Inorder to attain the correct viscosity for the second liquid 44, theliquid may need to be heated or cooled to a certain degree. When thefirst-liquid-coated outer shell 18/34 is dipped into second liquid 44,it coats and sticks to exterior surface 34 a of first coating 34 andcompletely covers the area of the glove that is dipped therein. Thetwice coated outer shell 18 on former 28 is then removed from vat 42and, once again, sufficient time is allowed to permit second liquid 44to cool, solidify or set so as to form the second coating 40 over theexterior surface 34 a of first coating 34. Once both of the first andsecond coatings 34, 40 have been applied and set, the manufacture ofglove 10 is completed and glove 10 is removed from former 28 by slidingit off the same.

FIG. 11 a is an enlarged top view of the highlighted portion of FIG. 10showing an alternative embodiment of the invention. FIG. 11 a shows thata blade-coating 46 has been applied to the fabric used to construct thefront 20 and back 22 of outer shell 18 before the front and back aresewn together. Blade-coating 46 preferably comprises a silicon ornitrile coating, or any other substance that improves the temperatureresistance, fluid impermeability or the resistance of the glove topenetration or cuts from sharp objects. This blade-coating layer alsotends to enable the glove to be used for applications involving highertemperatures than a glove that includes only the first and secondcoatings 34, 40.

FIG. 12 shows the glove 10 being used as part of a protection assemblyfor a worker. The assembly includes a fabric liner 50, the glove 10described above, and a separate protective member 56. Fabric liner 50preferably is made from a soft material that is feels good to the touch,such as cotton. The cotton liner 50, is inserted into the cavity 26 ofglove 10 such that an exterior surface of the liner abuts the interiorsurface of glove 10. Complementary hook and loop fasteners are appliedto liner 50 and glove 10. FIG. 12 shows a strip of hook and loopfastener 52 applied to the end portion of liner 50 and a complementarystrip of hook and loop fastener 54 applied to an end portion of theinterior surface of glove 10. The hook and loop fastener holds liner 50and glove 10 together, but allows them to be separated for cleaning orreplacement purposes. It will be understood that the exactconfigurations and locations of the hook and loop fasteners 52, 54 isimmaterial and they may be applied in several different locations onglove 10 and liner 50.

Protective member 56 is in the form of a mitt that is slidable over theexterior surface 40 a of the first and second liquid coated glove 10.Preferably, this mitt 56 is manufactured from a material such as KEVLARand provides extra strength and heat resistance to glove 10 fortemporary applications where such qualities are required. Specifically,the protective member 56 is manufactured from a material that is one ormore of temperature resistant, fluid impermeable, provides improved cutstrength (i.e., resistance to cuts) and penetration strength (i.e.,resistance to penetration by sharp objects).

As illustrated in FIG. 12, protective member 56 has a length from a topend 56 a of a finger region to a bottom end 56 b adjacent an opening tothe interior cavity thereof; and glove 10 has a length from a top end 10a of a finger region to a bottom end 10 b adjacent the opening into theinterior cavity of the glove, and wherein the length of the protectivemember 56 is substantially smaller than the length of the glove 10.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because suchterms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadlyconstrued.

Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention are anexample and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown ordescribed.

1. A method of manufacturing a temperature resistant and fluidimpermeable glove comprising the steps of: sewing an outer shell of theglove by stitching at least a first piece of fabric to a second piece offabric with strands of thread so as to form at least one seam; andapplying a first liquid to an exterior surface of the outer shell suchthat the first liquid coats the exterior surface and a quantity of thefirst liquid migrates into the at least one seam and substantially sealsthe same.
 2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising thestep of: stretching the glove to open up a plurality of gaps in the atleast one seam prior to applying the first liquid to the outer shell. 3.The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of stretching theglove includes: placing the outer shell over an expandable former whenthe former is in a non-expanded condition.
 4. The method as defined inclaim 3, wherein the step of stretching the glove further includes thestep of: moving the former to an expanded condition so that the at leastone seam is expanded and the plurality of gaps open up in the seam, witha single gap being disposed between each pair of adjacent strands of thethread.
 5. The method as defined in claim 4, wherein the step ofapplying the first liquid to the outer shell occurs when the former isin the expanded condition.
 6. The method as defined in claim 2, furthercomprising the step of: filling substantially each of the plurality ofgaps opened up in the at least one seam with the first liquid.
 7. Themethod as defined in claim 6, further comprising the step of: moving theformer to a non-expanded condition after the application of the firstliquid.
 8. The method as defined in claim 7, further comprising thesteps of: solidifying the first liquid to form a first coating on theouter Shell.
 9. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein the step ofsolidifying the first liquid includes the step of: allowing a pre-setperiod of time to pass after moving the former to a non-expandedposition.
 10. The method as defined in claim 8, further comprising thestep of: applying a second liquid to an exterior surface of the firstcoating.
 11. The method as defined in claim 10, further comprising thestep of: solidifying the second liquid as a second coating over theexterior surface of the first coating and over regions of the at leastone seam where the gaps were previously filled with the first liquid.12. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the step of solidifyingthe second liquid further comprises the step of: allowing a pre-setperiod of time to pass after applying the second liquid to the exteriorsurface of the first coating.
 13. The method as defined in claim 10,wherein the step of applying the second liquid includes: maintaining theformer in the non-expanded condition until the second liquid hassolidified.
 14. The method as defined in claim 13, further including thestep of: removing the twice-coated outer shell from the former.
 15. Themethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the step of applying the firstliquid to the exterior surface of the outer shell includes the step of:dipping the outer shell into a quantity of the first liquid while theouter shell is engaged on the expanded former.
 16. The method as definedin claim 1, wherein the step of applying the first liquid includes:dipping the outer shell into a quantity of a low viscosity liquid. 17.The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the step of applying thesecond liquid to the exterior surface of the first coating includes thestep of: dipping the first liquid coated outer shell into a quantity ofthe second liquid while the outer shell is engaged on the non-expandedformer.
 18. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein the step ofapplying the second liquid to the outer shell includes the step of:dipping the first liquid coated outer shell into a quantity of a highviscosity liquid.
 19. The method as defined in claim 10, wherein thesteps of applying one or both of the first and second liquids furtherincludes the step of: heating the one or both of the first and secondliquids prior to application thereof.
 20. The method as defined in claim1, wherein the step of sewing the outer shell includes the steps of:selecting a fabric, where the fabric has an interior surface and anexterior surface; blade-coating the interior surface of the fabric;cutting a front panel and a back panel from the fabric; sewing the frontpanel to the back panel such that the interior surfaces of the front andback panels form an interior surface of the outer shell.